Recently in Layshia Clarendon Category

The countdown to the awarding of the 46th annual Ken Hubbs Award will start Monday, as the selection committee will pick the overall winner of the award from a group of nominees that have already been submitted by the eligible schools.

The individual school winners will be announced Friday, May 14 at Arrowhead Credit Union Park during the 66ers' game with the Quakes while the overall winner will be honored Monday, May 17 at 6 p.m. at the Elks Club in San Bernardino.

Recent winners of the award include Redlands East Valley football player Ronnie Fouch (2007), Big Bear football player Kriss Proctor (2008) and Yucaipa swimmer Trevor Hoyt last year. Cajon basketball player Layshia Clarendon was honored last year with an award for outstanding female athlete as well.

After working out this past weekend at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Cajon senior guard Layshia Clarendon was named as one of 14 finalists for the Under-19 National Team Sunday. Clarendon, a 5-9 point guard who will play for California next season, will return to Colorado Springs July 9 to compete for a spot on the final roster, which will consist of 12 players. The 14 finalists were culled from a pool of 27 high school and college players that tried out this past weekend.

The United States' Under-19 National Team then will travel to Thailand for the 2009 FIBA World Championships, which start July 23.in Bangkok. Past standouts that have played on this team include Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo and Don Lugo alum Diana Taurasi.

Cajon senior guard Layshia Clarendon continues to rub her elbows with the elite in girls basketball, as she is in Colorado Springs currently working out with top high school and college players at the U.S. Olympic Training facility according to an e-mail sent by Cowgirls coach Mark Lehman.

Clarendon is among a handful of high school players chosen to compete with college players for spots on the Junior National Basketball Team, which will compete in the World Championship Games this summer. More information on the event can be found at www.usabasketball.com.

The one in the paper is a quoteless, shorter version due to deadlines, but this one can be found at www.sbsun.com/sports as well as here.

Darshae Burnside wrapped up Cajon's second straight CIF title in fitting fashion, nailing two free throws and blocking her sixth shot of the game at the end of the 52-44 victory. The victory breaks Poly's 34-game playoff winning streak. Cajon was led by Layshia Clarendon's 28 points.

More to come.

The Cowgirls are continuing to roll, forcing the Jackrabbits to shoot unsuccessfully from the outside en route to the 12-point lead. Layshia Clarendon has 23 points now, including a runner with 8.6 seconds left that put Cajon up 39-27.

Darshae Burnside now has 15 points and four blocked shots to go with her six points, but she committed her fourth foul late in the third. Poly, after starting the quarter strong, didn't score for the final 4:21 of the period.

The Cowboys played about as well in the first half as could have been expected, taking an 11-point lead at halftime despite playing all five of its starters for all but 11.9 seconds of the first half.
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Layshia Clarendon has 19 points and three rebounds unofficially while Darshae Burnside has four points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Poly's offense is coming from Ta'Nitra Byrd, who has 14 of Poly's 19 points. Turnovers have been an issue for the Jackrabbits, who have 11.

Stay tuned to see if this upset continues.

The Cowboy defense has successfully harassed the Jackrabbits, forcing them into 10 turnovers at this juncture. Darshae Burnside also has three blocked shots.

Offensively, Clarendon has 14 points, including a gutty 3-point play at the 4:03 mark that gave Cajon its current 23-15 lead.

The senior guard just drilled a 35-footer as the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter, giving Cajon a 16-11 lead. Clarendon has nine points to lead the Cowgirls while Darshae Burnside has two points, five rebounds and two blocked shots unofficially.

Second quarter about to start

However, both Clarendon and Burnside have two fouls each at this point. Four Cowgirls have scored, with Clarendon leading the way with four and Maya Darby hitting a 3-pointer. Burnside

Junior Ta'Nitra Byrd has eight of Poly's nine points.

however, Cajon is up 6-0 with 5:07 left in the first quarter and Poly has called timeout.

Clarendon has hit two early jumpers, Poly has two early turnovers and Darshae Burnside has two points, two rebounds and just stuffed Poly's McDonald's All-American forward Monique Oliver on Poly's previous possession.

I'm here live at the Division I-AA final between Cajon and Long Beach Poly. It was a bit of a harrowing journey and I wouldn't be surprised if my car ends up towed, but I'm here.

6 minutes and counting until game time so I'll be brief. Basically, Poly is Goliath and Cajon is David - if David had two sweet Division I players in guard Layshia Clarendon and center Darshae Burnside in his arsenal. Poly has won three straight large-school state titles, four straight CIF titles (off the top of my head) and 34 playoff games in a row. They boast a McDonald's All-American in 6-foot-3 Monique Oliver.

However, Cajon has won its four playoff games by an average of 34.2 points per game and is playing as well as it has all season. And its no stranger to playoff pressure, having won the Division II-A CIF title a year ago.

I'll keep you updated as the game rolls on.

Two of the top girls basketball teams in the County, Cajon and Etiwanda, will play each other at 3 p.m. Saturday at Staples Center as part of a tripleheader that includes the Clippers' game with the Milwaukee Bucks that night. The "Downtown Showdown" will start with a game between South Torrance and Palos Verdes at 1 p.m., followed by Cajon and Etiwanda at 3 and the Bucks-Clippers game at 7:30.

The 13-0 Cowgirls, the CIF-SS Division II-A champions a year ago, are led by 5-foot-9 senior point guard Layshia Clarendon, who has signed a letter of intent to play at California, and 6-2 senior center Darshae Burnside, who has signed with Arkansas. Clarendon averages 20.5 points, 8.8 assists, 8.5 rebounds and 3.9 steals per game while Burnside averages 19.8 points and 18.5 rebounds per game.

Etiwanda comes in with a 10-5 record but played the Cowgirls tough in the championship game of the Magnolia Classic on Dec. 20, falling 60-58. The Eagles are led by senior guard Amber Williams - who averages 17.5 points and 4.3 steals per game - junior guard Natalia Hawthorne (11.8 points, 3.7 steals) and 6-1 junior center Jasmine Bernard (10.4 points, 8.5 rebounds).

Tickets to all three games are $20 for upper-deck seats and $43 for lower-level seats prior to Saturday. On Saturday, they'll be selling for $25 and $50, respectively. You can also click this link or call Rob Strikwerda at 213.742.7541 to order by phone, or via email at RAS@Clippers.com

Cajon coach Mark Lehman just confirmed to me that senior guard Layshia Clarendon and senior post Darshae Burnside were signing national letters of intent with California and Arkansas, respectively.

"I think we pretty much knew this day was coming," Lehman said. "They came in their freshman year and started right away. With their talent, you knew that they had a shot to have this happen for them."

Cajon is trying to set up an assembly in front of the student body for the formal signing sometime in the next week, as the Fall Signing Period starts Wednesday and runs through Nov. 19. Lehman indicated that a date hasn't been picked as of yet, but a few were under consideration.

The 5-foot-9 Clarendon, the CIF-SS Division II-A player of the year, was a first-team all-state selection by calhisports.com and was the Sun's All-County Most Valuable Player this past season. Clarendon averaged 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists and four steals per game for the Cowgirls, who won their first-ever CIF title last March with a 51-47 victory over Ayala.

"It feels pretty great right now," said Clarendon, who chose from a final three of Cal, UCLA and Arizona State. "It's one of those things that I always hoped would happen, but I wasn't sure if it would come together like this. Cal was a perfect place for me and I feel as if everything is falling into place."

Burnside, a first-team all-state, all-CIF and all-County selection a year ago, averaged 15.5 points, 16.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocked shots per game. She has quickly climbed up the all-time state rebounding leaders, with Lehman saying that she is roughly 160 rebounds away from being the leading rebounder in state history.

I only got a brief word in with Burnside before her cell phone cut out, basically me congratulating her and her saying "Thanks." I guess that's as good of confirmation as any until I can speak with her more.